Staying, and helping, in place

Mount Sinai’s Valerie Orellana strives to make a difference in the local community

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When Valerie Orellana joined Mount Sinai in 1986 as a registered nurse, little did she know that this hospital where she was born would also be the place where she’d fall in love, meet her husband, and deliver her own daughter.

Today, Orellana serves as the system vice president, talent acquisition and HR operations, where she spends much of her time sourcing senior level talent and working directly with each of the Mount Sinai Health System Hospital presidents. During her tenure in human resources, she performed extensive work with the immediate community, engaging and identifying talent pipelines in East Harlem. Orellana takes great pride in Mount Sinai’s commitment to sourcing and developing local talent.

“Patients like to be taken care of by people that understand them. We look to hire folks that match the patients,” she said.

A key pipeline for local talent is Mount Sinai’s partnership with STRIVE, a nonprofit agency headquartered in East Harlem. STRIVE provides skills training, certification and job placement services. Over the last seven years, Mount Sinai Health System and STRIVE have worked together to create customized training programs, establish internships for young adults, and place hundreds of STRIVE graduates into full- and part-time positions.

The programs run for 12-weeks and take place during the evening hours. Orellana attends STRIVE graduation ceremonies, where she, along with Mount Sinai recruiters, speak about the available openings and have dinner with the graduates.

During a packed open house several years ago, Orellana came to the realization that there was a job for every single person who attended.

“I recognized from that moment on that there was a job for every single person in the community to be at Mount Sinai. You don’t have to be a doctor, you don’t have to be a nurse, you don’t have to be a clinician. We have actors who perform at the Morchand Center for Mount Sinai medical students to practice on. We have jobs for teachers, for those in finance, for engineers and mechanics. You name a title and there is a position here for that person,” Orellana said. “It’s really a great privilege to be a part of Mount Sinai.”

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